Shadow Blade
The shadow blade bides his time beneath the veil of darkness. He is patient. He knows that eventually, his enemy will lull themselves into complacency, grow bored and relax their vigil. It is then that he will spring from the shadows.
The shadow blade is an archetype of the swashbuckler class.
Deeds
The shadow blade gains the following deeds, each of which replaces an existing deed.
Vanishing Shadow (Sp)
At 1st level, when the shadow blade hits a living creature with a light or one-handed piercing melee weapon attack, as a free action he can spend 1 panache point to vanish for a number of rounds equal to the shadow blade’s Charisma modifier. This ability function like the invisibility spell in all regards aside from its duration.
This deed replaces dodging panache.
Shadow Strike (Ex)
At 3rd level, while he has at least 1 panache point, a shadow blade gains the ability to inflict sneak attack damage with a light or one-handed piercing melee weapon (though not natural weapon attacks). This extra damage is 1d6 at 3rd level. At 6th level, and every 3 levels thereafter, he adds another d6 to his sneak attack damage, for a maximum of 6d6 at 18th level. Shadow strike is considered sneak attack for the purpose of feat prerequisites.
This deed replaces precise strike.
Spawning Shadow (Sp)
At 7th level, when the shadow blade hits a living creature with a light or one-handed piercing melee weapon attack, as a free action he can spend 1 panache point to cast darkness. Beginning at 11th level, he may instead cast deeper darkness. These spell-like abilities have a caster level equal to the shadow blade’s level. Using these spell-like abilities does not hamper the shadow blade’s vision.
This deed replaces swashbuckler’s grace.
Night Creature (Su)At 2nd level, a shadow blade gains darkvision with a range of 30 feet. If he already has darkvision, the range of his darkvision increases by 10 feet.
When the shadow blade reaches 5th level, and every 3 swashbuckler levels thereafter, the range of his darkvision increases by 10 feet.
This ability replaces charmed life.
Rogue Talent
At 4th level and every 4 levels thereafter, a shadow blade gains one rogue talent from the list of rogue talents. The Swashbuckler levels are considered rogue levels for the purpose of meeting rogue talent prerequisites.
This ability replaces the swashbuckler’s bonus feats gained at 4th, 8th, 12th, 16th, and 20th levels.
